Black and Green
by lady-warrioress
Summary: Snowman appears outside Spades Slick's apartment bruised and bloody. He's forced to help her recover in more ways than one. Slight AU DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

It was midnight and Spades Slick was just getting ready to go to bed. It had been a long and trying day and he was looking forward to just climbing under that soft comforter and snoozing for a good eight hours. Suddenly he heard a thud outside his apartment door.

The Dersite froze and looked toward the closed door, his eyes squinting with suspicion. What was that? Was someone outside his apartment? The only reason anyone would be outside his apartment at this hour was because they had bad intentions, as in wanting to put a bullet through his head.

Oh no. No way was that going to happen. He wasn't going to go down without a fight. Whoever was out there was going to get way more than they bargained for.

Grabbing a knife out of his top drawer, he moved stealthily toward the door. His body tensed as he tiptoed toward it, expecting a bullet to splinter the wood on its journey to penetrate his skull.

Cautiously he reached out and unlocked the door. He gripped the knob and slowly pulled it open. It let made a long drawn out creak as he did so.

What he saw when he did made him freeze.

Snowman was sitting by the door, her shoulder leaning heavily against it. She looked like she'd been in some kind of scuffle. He cursed and pulled the door open all the way, causing her to fall onto the floor.

He cursed loudly, staring down at the trench coat clad woman. What was she doing outside his apartment?! This was the last thing he needed right now.

Kneeling down, he grabbed her shoulder and shook her demanding she wake up. "Hey, you, get up!" he snapped at her. "Now!"

Snowman moaned softly and lifted her head, her white eyes opening and looking up at him.

Slick frowned, feeling annoyed. What now? He didn't need this. Couldn't he have one peaceful evening without this dumb broad shoving herself into his life? If she thought he was going to give it up to her again she had another thing coming.

Snowman of course didn't know what he was thinking. She didn't even seem to care at the moment. J...ack.." she croaked, reaching up to grab him by the front of his shirt. Help me..."

What?!

The short mobster stared down at her, too shocked by her request to even be angry or offended that she's used his former name. Did she really ask him of all people for help? and why was she asking him that anyway and in that voice? What was her problem?

Then he saw it.. or at least some of it.

Her body was covered in cuts and bruises and it was obvious she was still bleeding. Slick wasn't sure why the sight made him angry but it did. Maybe it had to do with the fact that it was someone besides him doing it.

Angrily he grabbed her arms, gritting his teeth. "Who did this?"

Snowman didn't respond so he shook her, trying to get her to tell. "Answer me, you dumb broad!"

But the female Dersite couldn't answer because she'd passed out.

Slick frowned at her, letting go of her arms. Just perfect. What was he going to do with her now? He couldn't just let her lay on the floor with her legs sticking out of his apartment like that. The neighbors might think he was the one who'd beaten her like that. He needed to get her out of sight.

Grumbling to himself he gripped her arms and pulled her into his apartment, frowning when he saw the blue blood trail that stained the floor. He would have to clean that up. Just perfect.

Once he had her inside he dropped her on the floor and went to clean up the mess before any of his nosy neighbors poked their ugly faces out of their apartments to see what he was doing. He noticed the stain started right at his door and wondered if she'd used all her energy to faze in and out of time to get to his apartment. But why there? She knew he hated her! Why would she come to his home after being beaten up by someone?

What even gave her the assumption that he'd help her? Surely she knew she risked forfeiting her life...

No, she knew he wouldn't kill her. Not when doing so would destroy the universe. Of course she had to come to him. Who else was there? The other members of the Midnight Crew? Nah, she hardly ever bothered with them.

It didn't take long for him to clean up the blood stains. Once he was done he went back inside and shut and locked the door before turning to the unconscious woman still laying on the floor. What was he going to do with her? He couldn't very well leave her where she was, getting blood all over his carpet.

He grabbed her arms and drug her across the floor. Once again her blood made a blue trail across the floor but he ignored it. Now that his door was shut he didn't have to worry about anyone seeing it.

Snowman moaned as he drug her and her head flopped backward causing her hat to fall off her head and land on the floor. He'd worry about that later.

Spades drug her into his bedroom and pulled her onto the bed, flopping her onto the mattress. She was a bit heavy and he had to strain to pick her up. Seems she gained some weight since their last encounter, he wondered if she knew. She'd probably be offended if he told her and maybe take out an eye to punish him for calling her fat.

Once he was sure she wouldn't fall off he left the room and started cleaning up the stains, his mind running through all the questions he had for her when and if she woke up.

Of course she'd wake up. Those wounds were bad but not life threatening, he'd given he worse punishment. Or that's just what he told himself, blasted female.

While he waited for her to wake up he cleaned up the stains on his floor and then made a phone call to his "best friend" Diamonds Droog.

"Snowman's at my apartment!" he exclaimed before Droog could even say a word.

The other Dersite didn't even seem surprised. "Oh."

"Oh!?" he exploded. "What do you mean oh?!"

"I mean what I said." Droog replied flatly. "am I supposed to sound surprised by this?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" he snapped.

"It means what it means." he heard his friend take a drag of his cigarette. "what do expect me to do about it, Slick? Go over there and join you in a threesome?"

Spades couldn't respond. what exactly did he expect Droog to do about it? It wasn't like he could tell the man to come over and help him bury a body. Snowman wasn't allowed to be killed, no matter how much he longed to do so. What the heck did that threesome comment have to do with anything?!

"I can't keep her at my apartment!"

"Then kill her."

"I can't do that either and you know it!"

Click.

Droog had hung up on him! He couldn't believe it!

'Some help you are!" he shouted into the silent phone.

Cursing Slick slammed the phone back into its cradle and turned toward his bedroom. Looks like he would have to deal with her all by himself.

Sighing, the mob boss walked back into the bedroom and stood over the woman who lay on his bed. He studied her body, taking note of the scratches and bruises on her legs and neck and face. He was sure there were more under her coat but he wasn't going to open it to satisfy his curiosity. If she woke up as he did it she'd probably still have enough strength to pummel him.

Still he couldn't resist not reaching up and placing a hand on her cheek. He didn't know why he did it, it just seemed the thing to do. His long black fingers touched the smooth black carapace. It was cold, as cold as her eyes when she looked down on him when he used to work for her when she was the Black Queen on Derse.

He pulled his hand back with a growl. No. He wasn't going to let his mind wander in that direction. The past was past and he wouldn't let himself relive that again.

Cursing, Slick pulled away from the bed and left the room. She wasn't going to wake up any time soon anyway. He flopped onto the sofa and stared at the ceiling, trying to figure out if this was a stroke of luck or a really bad omen.

There was so much he could do to her right now and she wouldn't be able to stop him. He could make her pay for all the pain and humiliation she'd put him through. Hey why not? She deserved it after all. No one could blame him if he added a few new scars to her body.

Wasn't like anyone would notice.

He eyed the knife on the coffee table. It was very tempting.

No. He held himself back. He couldn't do that. In the state she was in he risked killing her by accident and thus killing himself. It would be best if he kept any torture fantasies to himself.

Sighing he looked away from the knife and tried to focus on something else, though his eyes kept wandering back to the bedroom. Why did fate have to be so cruel?He hated fate. He wished he could find fate and cut off its head and use it for a football while playing the body like a bunch of bagpipes..

No not bagpipes, he hated those two, that annoying wailing cat sound it made drove him cray. This was a dumb train of thought anyway. Think about something else, you idiot!

Slick pushed away all thoughts of fate and annoying instruments and returned to his previous ones. Trying to figure out what had happened to her. It was obviously something bad but he could only guess as to what it was and why she'd been beaten so severely. Had she crossed someone or had her new master gotten sick of her and done this?

For some reason the very though of Lord English laying a finger on Snowman made him angry, though he couldn't figure out why. She deserved it after all. If she wasn't so obnoxious and witchy all the time... He should be shaking the man's hand not feeling like he wanted to find the creep and rip his head off. But there was no proof that had even happened...

"I'll have to ask her when she finally wakes up," he told himself. Yeah, that would settle it. He'd satisfy his curiosity and then figure out what to do from there.

In the meantime he figured he'd do some reading to get his mind off of it

There was a copy of Terrier Fancy on the coffee table so he grabbed it and opened to the last page he'd read. Since Snowman was likely to be out for hours he didn't have to worry about her coming in and seeing him reading magazines about dogs. What was wrong with dogs anyway? They were loyal and made great companions, not that he ever owned one. He just enjoyed reading about them and it was better than the smut Hearts Boxcars and Diamonds Droog were always looking at with those stupid faces.

Soon he was so engrossed in his magazine he wasn't aware Snowman had regained consciousness until he was brought back to reality by a loud THUD coming from his bedroom.

Spades instantly closed the magazine and got to his feet, crossing the floor in seconds. What had she done now? He stood in the doorway of the room and paused. Snowman was now laying on the floor, curled up in a fetal position.

"Snowman?"

The female Dersite lifted her head, her eyes wide with... fear?

Instantly she recognized him and that glimpse of terror he thought he saw vanished from her eyes. "Slick?" she asked, her tone holding more than just a question. "Where am I?"

"My apartment."

"What am I doing here?" she demanded, sounding suspicious.

He frowned, annoyed at her accusatory tone. "You tell me," he responded. "You're the one who appeared at me door all bruised and bloody and begged me for help, like some whore who had gotten away from her pimp."

This seemed to bring her memory back and she looked away, saying nothing.

"Don't you dare give me the silent treatment," he hissed. "not after you fazed your sorry butt all the way across the city from who knows where. If you tell me it's not my concern you can just leave and find someone else to play mute with."

Snowman looked up at him. She knew he was right, he could tell by her expression. "I didn't know who else to go to," she said honestly."You were the first person that came to mind."

"Why?" that made no sense since they both hated each other equally. Why would she go to someone who would prefer to see her dead than someone who would care if she was alive?

"Why not?

He didn't know how to answer that.

"Does it bother you?" she asked, trying to get up off the floor. Something was wrong with her left arm though and she flopped back down onto the floor with a small cry of pain.

Slick sighed and moved to help her up. She thought he was going to hurt her and kicked him between the legs. "Don't touch me!"

He lay on his side on the floor, curled up, feeling agony in his nether regions. "What the heck?! I wasn't going to hurt you, idiot!"

Snowman didn't seem to believe him, though and gave him that suspicious look he'd grown to know so well from his past on Derse. He glared at her now. They weren't on Derse anymore so that look didn't intimidate him.

Eventually she caved and looked away. Slick managed to get up, though now he winced and walked toward her. "Okay, let's get you back on the bed."

She didn't fight back as he helped her off the floor. Once the woman was back on the mattress she lay down with a sigh. Once again Slick noticed the bruises. They looked worse with the light on.

Snowman noticed him staring and covered her legs with a blanket.

Right away he turned his attention away from that though he started feeling annoyed again. Why would she bother hiding it now? He'd already seen it all. Hiding it wouldn't do anything now except maybe make her look petty.

So now he wasn't sure what to do except maybe kick her out now that she was awake. But he couldn't do that either since she couldn't even stand up on her own and... she still hadn't really told him what caused her to get all those bruises in the first place. Not that he didn't have his own ideas.

That's when he realized she was staring at him. "What?" he demanded, defensively.

"I want to be alone for a moment."

"And why is that?" he demanded. "afraid to tell me who beat your sorry butt all of a sudden?"

She gritted her teeth and looked away. "Just go."

"Fine," he said, letting her have her way for the moment. He wasn't in the mood to fight with her about it right now. 'but don't think this discussion is over."

Snowman closed her eyes as if she'd fallen asleep. Slick cursed and stormed out of the bedroom leaving her alone.


	2. Chapter 2

2

Spades Slick fell asleep on the sofa. He wasn't even aware he'd fallen asleep until he opened his eyes and saw sunlight streaming in through the living room window. He blinked, surprised, then sat up, yawning tiredly before glancing at the clock he'd purposely had set on the wall out of his reach so he wouldn't be tempted to smash it during a fit of rage.

The timepiece informed him it was nearly noon.

Noon?!

He sat up with a start, startled that he'd slept so long or that he'd slept at all what with that female sleeping in his bedroom. He should have been up all night with a knife in his hand in case she came out of there and tried to kill him in his sleep.

Speaking of which...

Slick got off the sofa and crossed the room until he reached the closed door to the bedroom. He reached out and slowly turned the knob and peeked into the room, very carefully, as if he expected something to come flying at his face.

Snowman was still sound asleep, curled up under the bed covers and hugging the pillow. She looked like a child, peaceful and innocent, though he knew she was neither. Still right now it was a bit hard to believe that this person was the cruel former Queen of Derse and the black hearted only female of the the rival gang the Felt. Oddly enough, it gave him a depressed feeling, as if part of him really wished she was an innocent as she looked right now.

Slick shook his head, grumbling to himself. What stupid thoughts he was having. She was a pest! Why in the world would he wish for her to be sweet and innocent? That was stupid. He should be wishing for her head to be put on a pike and paraded around the city.

Grunting, he turned away from the bedroom and stomped into the kitchen unit of the apartment. He didn't even want to think about that junk. Sweet people were weak anyway and useless.

He opened the fridge and perused the contents. He was hungry but didn't know what he wanted. Nothing inside the fridge looked edible, probably because there was an ugly green fuzz growing on it. How long had that cheese been sitting in there anyway? He really should clean it out.

Cursing he slammed the door shut and plopped into a chair. He'd do it later. Which most likely meant he would do nothing at all.

For now he'd just pout and try to figure out what he was going to do about Snowman. Obviously he would make her tell him the truth about her bruises but what would he do after that? Kick her out? Confront the idiot who dared beat her up? He couldn't even begin to come up with a good alternative.

Does it even matter? he asked himself. Why does it bother me so much? She got what was coming to her and yet I feel like beating up the person who'd done it. Maybe it's just that way because it wasn't me who did it. Yeah, that has to be it.

He got up and opened a cabinet, taking out a bag of his favorite candy. Black licorice Scotty dogs. He opened the bag and stuffed a few of the candies into his mouth and chewed.

After a few minutes he felt a bit better as he savored the taste and sat back down into the chair to think. If only dealing with her were easier but killing her was out of the question.

Shame.

The mob boss sighed in disappointment. He'd never have any fun. He couldn't torture her or kill her, All he could do was insult her and leave her to take his bed and stink up the mattress with her vomit inducing perfume.

"Great, I'm going to have to fumigate my entire apartment once she's gone," he muttered darkly. "I don't need her leaving any roaches behind."

The sound of his bedroom door opening jerked him out of his thoughts. He turned around and look back toward it.

Snowman was leaning heavily against the door frame. It looked like she was trying to walk into the living room.

"Hey!" he snapped, getting up and storming over to the female. "What do you think you're doing?"

She looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "I have to go to the bathroom."

Oh, the bathroom. He felt a bit embarrassed now but he wasn't going to let her know that. Instead of simply apologizing he decided to throw the blame on her. He grabbed her arm and shouted. "'You should have said something sooner."

She gave him a look that clearly said she thought he was stupid. "You didn't give me a chance to, what with you stomping over here and shooting off your mouth before I could even open mine."

"Just get into the bathroom!" he snapped, unable to come up with a good retort.

"Help me."

He started to yell at her again then helped himself back when he saw she couldn't even stand on her own without leaning against something. Which left him with no other choice but to help her into the bathroom himself.

He did not want to do it.

He really really did not want to do it.

But she was still there, leaning against the doorway, looking at him expectantly.

That's when he realized he didn't have a choice, or maybe he did. He could always make her crawl into the bathroom, it might be fun to watch her groveling. The very idea made him grin. Hey, why not? It might teach her a lesson.

But Snowman seemed to know what he was thinking. "You'd really make a woman who was beaten to a pulp crawl around on the floor like a drudge?" she asked him.

"I'm thinking about it..."

"Spades!"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not serious," he growled at her. "Tempting as if is I don't want to risk you getting a fatal injury." he smirked. "No sense destroying the universe. You must really enjoy holding that fact over everyone."

She muttered something he couldn't make out and he wasn't in the mood to make her repeat herself either. Instead he put her arm over his shoulder and walked her into the bathroom without saying a word.

While she did her business he waited outside of the bathroom, though he told himself he should have just left her in there. After all she'd have to go in there again in a few hours. Why not just leave her in there?

Then I can get my bed back. Yeah, the sofa wasn't exactly a comfortable piece of furniture. He preferred his soft and comfortable bed. I really should leave her in the bathroom.

Then again; if he did that he would have to find some place else to go himself or go in there and be forced to have her watch him.

Yuck!

Best if hr just let things go. There were more important things to focus on anyway.

Like her telling him what happened.

Sheesh, his thoughts constantly returned to that question. Could anyone even blame him? He wanted to know and at the moment snowman was being rather stubborn about the whole thing which was really annoying.

A moment later Snowman called to let him know she was finished. He went back inside and helped her back into his room and onto the bed. She rested her head on the pillow with a sigh.

"Anything else you need, your highness?' he asked sarcastically.

The female Dersite frowned at him in annoyance. "Do you always have to be so sarcastic about everything?" she demanded. "I mean would it really hurt your oh so delicate pride to be a little sympathetic?"

The look he gave her told her is really would be.

"I would suggest you think about that statement a moment before opening your mouth again," he said. "Because if you really want to get the answer to that question you should do a lot of thinking."

Snowman said nothing after that. He was right after all and she really shouldn't have asked him that question at all. What a stupid thing to bring up, especially about him.

"Finally figured it out?" he smirked.

The female Dersite changed the subject. "Do you have any cigarettes?"

"Are you kidding?" he demanded. 'why would I keep those vile things in my house? I don't smoke."

"Are you saying you don't even keep a pack around for guests?"

"Why should I. Droog brings his own." he sneered. 'you chose the wrong apartment. Maybe you should have fazed your fat butt to Droog's apartment instead, then the two of you could smoke your brains out like a couple of steam engines."

Even thought she wasn't exactly in the best shape at the moment, due to her injuries, she still had enough power to knock him clear across the room with a simple blow to the face.

He cursed at her, pushing off the wall, ready to slam her face into the back of her skull. How dare she hit him! who did she think she was? She didn't have any authority here! This was his house! He held the cards, not her!

Slick raised a closed fist as if he were going to slug her in the face with it.

She gave him a knowing look. "If I were you I'd put that hand down, unless you want to risk destroying the universe in one of your childish tantrums."

Why did she have to remind him?! Snarling, he dropped his fist and turned his back on her. Stupid woman!

"That's better."

"Oh shut up."

She sighed, flopping her head back onto the pillow. The look on her face told him she really wasn't in the mood for a fight, not that he could blame her after what she'd gone through.

Speaking of which...

"So are you going to tell me what happened or not?" he demanded, bringing the subject back up.

"I was beaten up." she said.

"Well that's obvious."

"Then why are you asking."

"Because I want to know who and why," he retorted.

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?!"

"Why do you care so much?"

Slick shrugged. He had no it was because he didn't like anyone hurting her but him. They could kill her and ruin everything.

"Just tell me what happened," he snapped. "and don't you dare say 'I got beat up' again because that won't cut it, sister."

She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment before opening her eyes again and beginning her story...


	3. Chapter 3

3

"It went like this," Snowman began her story after a moment's pause. "I was in the in my room at the mansion when it happened." she passed a moment, looking for a cigarette.

"I don't have any, remember?" he reminded her when he realized what she was doing.

She sighed, remembering, and continued from where she left off. "I was in my bedroom getting ready to change when..." she stopped again after uttering this single half sentence, which only made Slick get more irritated. Why did she keep on pausing like that?

"Why what?"

"I..." she looked away and cleared her throat. "I was about to go to sleep when I heard a knock on the door." she took a deep breath. "I wasn't expecting anyone to bother me that late in the evening so I was confused and got up to answer the door, wondering who it could be. Obviously it must have been important since they'd come to my room so late and I expected Itchy to be there or maybe even Doc Scratch. But..."

The Dersite frowned at her hesitation. "But what?"

"It wasn't either of them."

An awful feeling bloomed in Spades Slick's chest, surprising him. Why did he suddenly feel as if what she said next would be something that would drive him over the edge? "Then who was it, if it wasn't either of your pathetic coworkers?"

"It..." she suddenly seemed to lose the ability to speak.

Spades Slick's patience reached its end. "Will you stop that already?" he snapped, slamming his fist onto the nightstand, making her jump. "I don't want to watch you stutter like an idiot. Just tell me the freakin' story!"

"Give me a moment!" she shot back defensively. It was obvious she was having a hard time dealing recounting the incident. Why did the man have to be so pushy about it? It wasn't helping her at all. "I need to get myself prepared, okay? This isn't easy."

That was apparent and that feeling in his chest was getting worse, starting to become an awful tightness. Whatever she said to him he knew would be terrible and, though he usually didn't care about the things she'd gone through, this made an awful rage begin to well up inside him. But he didn't say any of this to her. That feeling he was getting might be wrong after all. He wouldn't know until she finished her story. So he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down and remind himself he should be patient.

Snowman waited a moment longer before she went on, maybe because she wanted Slick to get a hold of himself and exercise some patience. She didn't speak again until she was satisfied he'd deal with her hesitation. This wasn't easy to recollect.

"I..." she paused again, trying to regather her thoughts. "When I opened the door I was surprised by who was standing there since I was told he wouldn't exist unless I died..."

"Who?" he demanded, though now he had a clue as to the identity of her attacker and he didn't like the answer that came to mind.

She looked pained as she said. "Lord English."

"Lord English?!" now that bad feeling flowered into hostility. "What did he want?"

She looked away without another word. It seemed now she had no real intention of finishing her story since she'd already given him the identity of her attacker.

But Slick wasn't going to let her off that easily.

He grabbed her arm and pulled on it to get her to look back at him. "What did he do?" he demanded, his voice a low hiss. "Tell me!"

Slick could tell by the look on her face recalling the memories was painful. "I was surprised to see him as I said," she went on, though her voice had lowered to barely above a whisper. "I wondered how he was there when he only exists after the death of the universe..."

"So what did he do?" he asked her.

"Decided he would remind me of my place..."

"Your place?" he frowned. "Why did he say that to you?" his only guess was that she'd gotten a big head about her new responsibility and acted high and mighty about it. Did that mean she deserved whatever came next?

Snowman avoided the question anyway. "I didn't join the Felt to become such a person," she said mostly to herself. "What did he take me for? Some tramp?"

Slick said nothing. He quickly figured out she wasn't talking to him and didn't want an answer anyway. He would have made her angry if he'd made a comment. "So what did he want from you?" he inquired instead.

Snowman looked up at him, suddenly realizing she'd gotten off track. "As I said," she continued, clearing her throat. "he forced himself into my room and we started talking. At first it was just me asking how he exists now if he doesn't appear until I die. His response was he is already here." she rubbed her eyes. "I remarked that was a strange thing to say and he made me drop the subject. I was all too willing to and asked him what he wanted to talk to me about."

Spades frowned at her. "And what did he say was the reason for visiting you?"

"He said he wanted to talk but it was obvious he wanted more from me than a listener to whatever he wanted to say." she shifted, covering her legs with a blanket. "That became apparent when he..." she trailed off again which only further irritated Spades, only this time he managed to control himself and didn't flip out at her about it.

"When he touched me..." He frowned, leaning toward her now as her voice had gotten lower still. His teeth were starting to show which clued her in that he was going to lose his temper soon.

"How did he touch you?"

"On the cheek." he gave her a look so she tried to clarify. "It was obvious what he wanted. I told him no but he didn't listen to me. When I stabbed his hand with my cigarette holder he hit me back and there was a struggle and..." her voice trailed off. She couldn't go on, didn't want to go on. She'd said enough already.

Slick wanted her to continue. He reached out and grabbed her arm, desiring for her to finish the story. "What did he do?" he demanded, baring his sharp white teeth. "Tell me!"

She was silent.

He shook her. "You have no reason to protect him. He doesn't even care about you or your precious dignity! Just spit it out already!"

She gestured at herself, making it obvious what the outcome was.

The awful feeling flowered into shock and horror. His eyes widened and he stared at her, his expression mirroring that terrible rose blooming inside him, the thorns seeming to stab into all the places in his brain that controlled his movements and emotions. "No..."

She stared back at him now and simply nodded her head. She didn't say the outcome so he was left to draw his own conclusions and none of them were good.

This was just too much. He let her go and pulled back, his mind trying to sort out her words and his feelings. He got up and rushed out of the room, leaving her alone.

Snowman watched him go and then curled up on the bed when she heard the door slam shut.

000

Spades Slick left the apartment and stomped down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk and down the block without really thinking about what he was doing. With how he felt now he wasn't sure he could control whatever he did from then on.

He couldn't believe what Snowman has just told him. It was just too messed up to be true! She was lying, she had to be lying.

But how could he _not _believe her? There was no way she could have done that much damage to herself. Someone did it and denying it only made him feel worse. Why was he trying to blame her anyway?

_This is ridiculous_, he told himself. _First you want to know who did it because you are intent on beating in their heads for hurting the person you feel entitled to and now you don't want to believe her. Why is that? _

The answer was pretty obvious. Because it was Lord English. Now Slick was now coward, but he'd heard stories about the Felt's mob boss and they made him hesitate in going after him. At least for now anyway. He just wasn't ready to face the mobster yet.

Slick growled, clenching a fist in anger. It bothered him greatly that he knew he was unable to do anything about the man yet, and this incident only made him more frustrated. Snowman got the snot beaten out of her, maybe even raped, and he couldn't do a thing about it but make up excuses why it was her fault!

_But why does it bother me so much?_ he asked himself. _She's a tramp. She was asking for it, definitely. She always did enjoy making a whore of herself. What did she expect? _

No, that was wrong. It wasn't her fault. The only person she bothered acting like that toward was him, no one else. He knew that. She knew that. Everyone, including the rest of the Felt, knew that.

He sighed. "Yeah, it's not her fault."

But that didn't make him feel any better about the situation. Snowman had still been forced to do something violent and painful against her will and Lord English had still gotten away with it.

What was he going to do about it? he wondered. He was still unable to do anything about the mob boss at the moment, even though he was so angry at the moment he could storm the Felt's mansion and attack his enemy and probably do a bit of damage before the monster killed him. That was something in character for him but he knew he couldn't do it. Not now.

"I will eventually," he growled to himself. "He's not going to get away with this."

The short mobster stopped in his tracks, surprised by his own feelings. What was with the sudden protectiveness of the she witch? Was he that obsessed with protecting her integrity?

Slick had no reason to feel defensive toward her at all. He hated her. He hated her more than he hated anything and everything that existed.

So then why was he so upset that she was being used and abused by her employer? It couldn't just be because he felt he was only entitled to abusing her himself. He didn't want to admit that, though which didn't help him feel any better about it.

So, what was he going to do now? he asked himself, stopping in his tracks.

He would have to head back to his apartment and check on her to begin with. Leaving her alone like that was a dumb idea. Lord English might come after her since everyone knew who she'd go to if she wanted to get away from everyone else.

Spades Slick, her former archagent and toy.

Turning around with a sigh of resolution, he headed back to the apartment.


	4. Chapter 4

4

Spades Slick didn't return to his apartment for quite some time, leaving Snowman to wonder if he'd gone off and done something foolish in a fit of rage. That would be so much like him too, what with that volcanic temper of his and his extremely reckless behavior. It was likely he'd stormed to the Felt's mansion and decided to fight Lord English.

Snowman sure hoped not then asked herself why she'd allowed herself to hope such a thing. If he did something dumb it would be his own... no it wouldn't be his fault, it would be hers. Her's for telling him about the incident, for coming there in the first place. Much as she hated him she didn't want him to die that way.

Why would he kill Lord English for doing what he did anyway? She'd been expecting him to tell her she deserved it with a mocking sneer on his face. Not mocking her was so unexpected she'd been surprised. His reaction made her feel strange.

Maybe he actually cared about what happened to her, though she couldn't figure out why. Their hatred was mutual after all, yet that hadn't stopped her from coming to his apartment after she'd been violated so severely. Maybe he was just jealous because he hadn't gotten to do it himself.

That sounded more like him.

Snowman picked up a pillow off the bed and hugged it to herself as she rested her head on her knees. She was beginning to regret telling him what had happened. Maybe it would have been better going to Diamonds Droog or even Hearts Boxcars, but neither had entered her mind after it had happened. Only Slick.

Whenever something horrible happened he always was the first to jump to her mind. Yet now she knew it was a mistake. Why was she so stupid about this sort of thing? Even back on Derse she'd go to him over coming to her own husband, though her husband cared a great deal about her, loved her...

_Nothing I can do now,_ she told herself, realizing how much she missed her husband as well as wanting to leave the apartment before Slick came back._ I'm too beaten to move and I don't have the energy to teleport myself. I wish I could though... _she lifted her head, looking over toward the door. She wondered when or if Slick would be back.

_I hope so... _

But she didn't know when he would come back, it could be awhile, or if she really _did _want him to come back. But she knew if he didn't come back things would only get worse for her. It would be better if he did. She didn't know what to do while she waited, except maybe lie down and get some sleep.

Snowman turned and set the pillow back onto the mattress before she lay back down and closed her eyes. Hopefully when she woke up he would be back.

000

Slick returned to his apartment hours later, feeling no better than when he left. Snowman was still sleeping when he arrived so he didn't go into the bedroom to bother her. Instead he entered the kitchen unit and started to clean out the fridge just for something to get his mind off the problem. He didn't want to but, if it prolonged his confrontation with the woman, it was better than nothing.

He took out the fuzzy green foods and chucked them unceremoniously into the trash can. There was a lot in there that had gone bad and it smelled too. He scrunched up his face as he threw the junk away, wondering how he'd managed to let it get this bad. Before too long he was finished and the fridge was empty but clean. His garbage can was full and overflowing though. He glared at it, making a disgusted face. He didn't want to lug that thing down the stairs especially after he'd spent hours cleaning it out and alternatively he chucked it out the window.

There, all taken care of. Now that he was done he got up and went back to the sofa to finish reading his dog magazine... or he would have if he didn't turn around and seen Snowman in the doorway of the bedroom, leaning heavily against the frame. The sight of her made him jump ten feet.

"Did I interrupt something?" she asked him, smirking, amused at his reaction.

"No," he shot back, suddenly feeling defensive.

"Then why did you jump the way you did?"

"Because I didn't expect to see your stupid face staring at me from the doorway!" he snapped.

Snowman frowned at him, not liking the insult. Time to change the subject before things got violent. "I never expected you to be the type to do housework." she said in a somewhat teasing tone.

"What?"

The tall, black female pointed. "I saw you cleaning out the fridge." she smiled slightly. "Interesting. I would have thought someone like you had a maid to do the house work so you'd have someone to boss around."

"What? Like you?" he asked with a sneer.

It was starting up again. "Slick, let's not get into this," she said, tiredly, instantly deflating the tension. "Especially not now."

"You're the one who brought it up," he reminded her.

"And it was a dumb idea." she turned her eyes away and rubbed her arm, wincing.

He noticed and frowned. "What are you doing out of bed anyway?" he demanded, folding his arms.

"I didn't want it lay down anymore," she explained.

"Well, you're going to," he stormed over to her, reaching out to grab her arm though she tried to flinch away from his hand. "You're in no condition to be walking around, you dumb woman." He gripped it and yanked her back inside. "Now, be a good wench, lay down and don't get off your fat rear end again!"

Snowman didn't bother fighting him and just allowed herself to be put back on the bed, slightly surprised by his attitude. She stared up at him, wondering what the reason for his reaction was. Was he really worried about her condition?

He frowned down at her. "What's that look for?"

"You seemed very concerned about me just now," she said, unconsciously scooting away from him, as if she expected him to start swinging at her. "Since you told me I shouldn't be walking around in the shape I'm in and all."

He frowned, turning away from her. Obviously he hadn't noticed her shaking or simply didn't care. "Don't be stupid. I only told you to lie down so you wouldn't walk around and whine about how much pain you're in."

"Somehow I don't believe that."

"What makes you think that?" he demanded, looking over his shoulder.

She shrugged. "Just the way you said it."

Slick looked ready to ask her to elaborate on that statement but changed his mind. "Just don't get out of that bed again," he ordered before turning his head away and marching out of the room. "We don't need those wounds to get worse because you think you're not as wounded as you really are."

"I'm aware how damaged my body is, Slick..."

As he stepped out he could feel her eyes on his back and it only served to irritate him further. Why did she have to go and say something like that? So what if he didn't want her walking around? How was that such a big deal? It wasn't like he told her to do that because he cared.

"If she does she must have taken more blows to the head than I thought." he muttered to himself.

Slick sat down on the sofa and picked up his magazine. Yeah that had to be it. She was losing her mind from too many hits in the head when that guy decided to turn her into a punching bag.

"Another thing I'll make him pay for," he grumbled, opening up to his place.

Sitting back he started to read the magazine but his mind couldn't stay focused on the story. He kept thinking about what she'd told him earlier. This was making him feel dumb for just sitting there and reading, he should be doing something!

But what could he be doing? Go after Lord English? He wanted to but his desire was quelled by the realization that doing so would not make anything better and Lord English probably wanted that anyway; expected it even. Then again Lord English seemed to know everything so it was likely he knew Snowman was at mob boss's apartment and could come and get her any time he wanted.

_Not without a fight, he won't! _

Slick let dropped the magazine on the floor and got up, walking over to a small closet and yanking it open. If Lord English was going to show his ugly green face he'd be ready for him!

Slick looked at the contents in the closet. Inside was his collection of knives. He stepped inside and began to rummage through the blades, trying to decide which one would be the best to use against an angry, time traveling, skull monster.

He picked up a small knife he could hide easily in his coat. "Hmmm..." he stared at it for a moment then threw it behind himself, deciding it wasn't the right kind of blade for the task.

He took out another knife and looked at it for a long time before discarding it as well. It was too long and would be seen too easily. After awhile his living room floor was littered with knives and he still hadn't found the right one. Sighing, he tossed the last blade over his shoulder and punched the wall with frustration.

That only served to hurt his hand and he stepped back, rubbing it. _Stupid knives, stupid wall, stupid Snowman and her stupid skull monster of a pimp!_ He kicked the wall and cursed again, grabbing his foot at the pain and cursing a blue streak.

In the bedroom Snowman could hear him screaming and wondered what had gotten him so riled up, though she figured, since it was him, it wasn't anything serious. She rolled over and shut her eyes, trying to ignore him.

Once Spades' foot felt better he limped over to the sofa and sat down once more, sighing and eyeing the mess of knives littering his floor. He was going to have to clean that up sometime soon but at the moment he didn't feel like it, he'd done enough cleaning out the fridge. He could just let them lay there for awhile longer. It wasn't like he'd be using the floor for anything important in the next few hours anyway.

So what should he do in the meantime?

Slick looked back toward his bedroom where Snowman was resting. She was laying there, buised and bloody... staining his sheets with her blasted blue blood.

_And you're just now realizing that?_ a voice in his head mocked. _She'd been staining your sheets for the past twenty four hours. _

Well he couldn't have that. Blue blood would never get out and if people saw it when he went to the laundromat they'd ask questions. Then again they always gave him weird looks anyway when he went to wash his normal red, blood stained clothing. They should know by now not to bother, it was a normal thing for him.

Well who cared what they thought? It wasn't their business anyway!

Slick got up off the sofa and went into the bathroom where he yanked open the medicine cabinet and stared intently at the contents. He managed to find the things he wanted then turned away and grabbed a towel before returning to his bedroom and tossing the items to the woman who sat up instantly when he entered the room.

"If you're going to be staying here you might as well do something about all those wounds," he told her coldly, "Now do so and try not to get anymore of your blood on my sheets!"

She picked up the items and stared at them without a word as Slick turned and started to leave the room. Just as he did his cell phone rang and he took it out of his pocket to answer it.

"What?" he rudely snapped into the phone.

"... I'm going to assume by that extremely discordial response that Snowman is still shacking up at your apartment," a stoic voice responded on the other end.

Diamonds Droog. "What!?"

"Need I repeat myself, Slick?" the tall Dersite asked.

"Don't bother," he grumbled, sitting down on the sofa. "What do you want anyway?"

"You wanted me to come over earlier, did you not?"

"You said you weren't interested in helping me with this," he reminded him. "and why would I want you to come by now after you blew me off?"

"Because I might be able to help you out."

"How so?" he demanded. "It's Snowman. It's not like she's going to stab me in the back. Sure she hates me but you know she wouldn't do that due to that stupid quadrant garbage."

"So what's your excuse?"

"Excuse me?"

"You have her there, so why don't you kill her?"

"You know darn well why I can't kill her!" the mob boss snapped, irritably. "Why would you ask such a dumb question?!"

Droog was silent for a long moment and Slick was tempted to hang up on him. He hated when his cohort did this. Finally he asked. "Do you want me to come over or not?"

Slick shouted into the phone. "Do whatever the heck you want!"

"...I will be there in a half hour."

He hung up.


	5. Chapter 5

5

Slick dropped the phone onto the coffee table haphazardly with a sigh. Now what? Droog would be over and who knew what he'd say to him about this? He'd probably try to give him some lame advice that wouldn't help at all. Of course he'd claim it was good advice and really Slick, if you know what's good for you you'll _listen to me and stop being such a stubborn jackass for once_.

He massaged his temple in annoyance, shiny black fingers clicking slightly on his carapace, and wondered if Droog was actually aware of how often his advice was disregarded. _He probably just liked hearing the sound of his own voice, _Spades concluded.

A familiar feeling of soul blackening anger suddenly clawed at his throat as he realised how badly Droog would chew him out for what had happened, let alone the teasing Boxcars would relentlessly rain down upon him for 'going soft' on the she-witch. God, this was a mess.

He hauled himself to his feet and began to clean up the knives. No sense in letting Droog ream him out for making a mess like that; the man always made his schadenfreude of making Spades look foolish clear, even if it was under the guise of "helping."

_I don't need any help, _he fumed.

So then why did he tell him he could come over? Maybe he really did want some advice on what to do about Snowman and Lord English. It wouldn't hurt. No doubt when the gossip reached the other two, Boxcars and Deuce would be offended that they'd been left out of the feelings jam but, hey – he could deal with them being primadonnas later.

Spades finished up putting his vast collection of knives into his closet, also full of knives, so he could start planning on how to dominate the conversation when Droog finally arrived; something he found himself doing most of the time before they spoke. The two Dersites were stuck in a permanent cycle of trying to one up each other verbally, with neither particularly winning.

Despite this, he knew they'd both be talking about Snowman and what happened to her and her fate in the future. What was going to happen to her once she fully healed form what happened? Would she go back or would she do something else...?

He'd find out eventually, but found himself dreading the thought of her going back. If it happened to her again it just proved she deserved it.

No, she doesn't deserve it, no one does.

He flopped back onto the sofa, swearing softly under his breath. What he really needed right now was a nice cold class of liquour, or a new knife... or to check up on Snowma- DAMNIT.

Blasted woman! Why couldn't she stay out of his life? Why was it she would dramatically throw herself back into his life at the most inconvenient moments?

If she didn't she wouldn't be Snowman. It was basically programmed into her to go after him and do what she could to make him miserable. This time, however, she'd come for help, not to throw various items she'd found on the street through his apartment windows. For Slick, that was the most confusing aspect of her unannounced visit.

For what had to be the third or fourth time that evening, he wondered what malevolent being allowed her to exist in such a state.

As usual, and as expected; he got no answer. Not even Snowman's explanations made sense to him. She seemed to be hiding the real truth from him and he didn't know how to get it out of her.

Slick looked toward the door to his apartment. Where was Droog? He should have been there by now, unless he felt the need to stop by at the bar and set up a one night stand for later on.

He needs to learn to keep it in his pants, he thought. This is not the time for that kind of garbage.

"Wouldn't put it past him to do such a stupid thing right now," he grumbled to himself.

"What wouldn't you put past me?" a voice spoke up, startling him.

Slick spotted Diamonads Droog coming into view in the doorway. "It's about time you got here," he snapped, getting to his feet and facing him. "What took you so long?"

"You called my only a half hour ago," he informed him flatly. "I had to walk here since Boxcars borrowed my car."

Slick didn't respond to that, though he didn't believe him anyway (and couldn't help wondering how Hearts even fit in the thing.)

Droog seemed to sense this and didn't push it. Instead he walked toward him, taking off his coat and carefully hanging it on the rack beside the door. "So where is she?"

Spades pointed to the bedroom without a word.

The taller Dersite walked past him and went to the room, looked inside and saw Snowman laying on the bed, apparently sleeping. "Looks like you were right after all," he commented.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Slick demanded. "Are you implying that I was lying?!"

"Of course not." he turned away and went over to him. "So what happened to cause her to come here and ask you for help?"

Slick told him all he knew. Droog listened without much of a comment, though he did light a cigarette and smoked it thoughtfully. Once Slick finished he raised an eyebrow before asking "Did she actually say that was what happened?"

"What else could it be?" Spades demanded in return.

Droog shook his head and leaned against the wall. "I don't know but unless she actually said it you can assume such a thing happened to her, although I'd be wary, you know she's prone to lying," he took another drag and blew it out. "How are you so sure she didn't just get beaten up by him?"

Slick glared at him. How could he think such a thing? "You're implying she's lying."

"No, I'm implying you might have gotten the wrong idea from her explanation."

Slick took a step toward him, looking fairly pugnacious and trying to be threatening, despite his tiny stature compared to the other Dersite. Droog put up a hand. "Now now, let's not get violent, Slick," he stated. "I'm not in the mood for your childish tantrums right now. Maybe if the situation were different I'd engage in a brawl with you, though I'd probably win, seeing as I carry a gun around and all you have are knives."

The mob boss bit back a response. Now wasn't the time for fighting plus he'd been shot by Droog before and he didn't want to deal with his gloating again. The man might look apathetic but when he was riled he was worse than Slick was. It was best not to get into a brawl with him.

"Explain what you meant then." he growled.

"As I said," he replied, leaning back on the sofa. "You could be overeating and assuming it ended far worse than it did."

"I am not." he folded his arms. "It's the only answer that makes sense."

"Does it?"

"Why do you keep saying that?" he demanded angrily. She told me herself that's what happened!"

"Did she?" he questioned. "Or did you just project your own thoughts and concerns into her words?"

"I did not." he responded. "I have no reason to do such a thing. It's what she said and that's that."

"Mind if I talk to her?"

"I don't care what you do," he snapped. "Don't wake her up if she's sleeping, though. No doubt both of us regret it." he winced when he said this, remembering how she'd reacted when he'd come into the room. His neither regions were still a little sore from that encounter.

Droog got up off the sofa without another word. He turned and walked into the bedroom. Slick watched him do so then looked out the window, glaring coldly at the darkening sky. She'd probably be glad to see him anyway since he'd probably offer her a cigarette and a shoulder to cry on. He was always better at that, him and his stupid fake gentleman act.

Why hadn't she just gone to him to begin with? As much as his charade was total bullshit, it probably would've pandered to her much more than he could.

He sighed and waited for Droog to come back out of the room. The taller Dersite ended up staying in there for a long time so obviously she hadn't been sleeping at all. He was in there so long Slick got impatient and got up, walking toward the room and peeking inside to see what they were doing.

They were sharing a smoke and talking.

"I see so you insulted him somehow and he got angry," Droog was saying. "You didn't try to fight him off?"

"I did," she responded. "I didn't just sit there and let him do whatever he wanted with me. He's got a few new scars on his ugly face that won't fade any time soon."

He nodded. "What exactly did he do anyway?" Snowman responded by looking away from him awkwardly, making it clear she didn't want to discuss it again. "Of course you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, it doesn't bother me," he told her coolly.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said coldly.

"Very well then." He felt the need to add one more thing before he left, "But I do believe Slick might have misinterpreted your words."

"What?"

"He thinks you were molested."

Snowman didn't say anything to that.

He frowned. "Is that what happened?"

"I don't think that's your concern." she responded evasively.

"You're lying about that then."

"No!"

"You're not?"

"I didn't say that."

"Snowman, why can't you just admit-"

"There's nothing to admit," she retorted. "You're putting words in my mouth." she took another cigarette and lit it, looking away from him. "Leave me. I'm tired and don't want to talk about it anymore."

He didn't look ready to leave her alone but he didn't push her, deciding it was better to give her space and time, and that it was prudent not to anger someone of her strength. "Fine." He turned away from her.

"But if you're lying I'm going to have to deal with that. I don't think it's wise to lie to him about this just so he'll fight your battles for you. If that isn't what happened I think it would be better if you corrected him as soon as possible. Using him to get revenge on Lord English for humiliating you in a fight is rather petty, don't you think?"

Before she could answer he stepped out of the bedroom and back into the main part of the apartment. "You can stop hiding, Slick," Droog sighed.

Slick frowned at him."I'm not hiding."

"But you were listening."

"So?" he snapped. "It's my house. There's no law that says I can't listen to conversations in my own residence!"

Droog glared at him. "I'm sure you heard out conversation," he said, changing the subject. "I'm pretty sure you have something to say for that so why don't you just do it?"

"You were badgering her, trying to get her to say what you wanted, Slick informed him."I think you just want to prove me wrong."

"I don't think you were right in the first place." he told him. "And her reaction tells me you overreacted and jumped to conclusions."

"How so?"

"She never said she was raped."

_thanks to my beta reader_


	6. Chapter 6

6

"What?!" Slick looked at him angrily. "How dare you-"

"She never said she was," Diamonds Droog informed him flatly. "You know that, I know that, she knows that. I don't get why you're so insistent that she was."

Spades looked back toward the window. "What else could it be?" He was beginning to lose what little patience he had left.

"Slick, you seem to forget that he finds such acts of violence very distasteful," Droog reminded him. "Him molesting her would be too extreme, but the part about him touching her face is believable."

"He could have changed." He pointed out stubbornly. He wasn't ready to give up his belief of what happened yet.

"No, he's not the type to change his opinion of those kinds of things so rapidly."

"So what then?" Slick demanded, folding his arms. "This whole subject is just stupid. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Of course he didn't.

"I know you don't but you're going to have to." the tall Dersite lit another cigarette. "and nothing you think will change reality either. I would suggest you talk to her again and this time you don't jump to conclusions."

"I didn't jump to conclusions!"

Diamond's Droog was blunt. "You did."

Slick turned away from him with a loud curse. He didn't want to talk about any of this anymore. It was stupid, Droog was stupid. The whole thing was just plain stupid and he felt duped, though he wasn't going to tell the other Dersite such a thing. He'd just hold it over him or ask him why he felt that way and he'd be forced to tell him why.

Droog lit another cigarette, watching Slick who remained stubbornly silent. Same old same old for this guy, never willing to admit he was wrong or anything else for that matter. "You're going to find out the truth anyway, whether you believe me or not," the tall mobster said calmly. "either from her or Lord English if and when you go after him to avenge her."

"Who said I was planning on avenging her?!" he snapped, looking horribly offended that Droog would even suggest such a thing. "That stupid bimbo is perfectly capable of taking care of herself! I wouldn't want to soil my hands or any of my knives on him trying to avenge the honor of such a smelly broad."

Droog too a long drag from his cigarette before responding. "Because you think no one but you is allowed to beat her up. You feel as if he invaded your territory." Spades started to protest but the other carapace cut him off. "If you say it's not true it proves you're lying. It won't hurt you to admit it."

"I have got nothing to admit." he said stubbornly.

The taller Dersite shook his head and sighed. He wondered how long Slick would stick to his story. The smaller carapace was as stubborn as a mule so it would probably take awhile for him to face reality.

"If you wish I could take her off your hands," Droog offered after another awkward silence. "Then you won't have to worry about her or the outcome of this incident."

"No," he folded his arms and shook his head firmly. 'This is my problem. If she wanted you to meddle she would have gone to you instead."

"Hmm well you both have expressed that you wish she had gone to me," he pointed out. "I was just leaving the invitation open."

"Well I changed my mind. I'm not interested," he snapped. "And put that blasted cigarette out!"

"Fine." he put it out on the ash tray on the coffee table. "Should I leave as well or would you rather I stay here and make sure you don't kill each other?"

Spades didn't find any humor in that and he made it plain. "Ha ha. Very funny, you know we don't hate each other enough for that and I couldn't kill her anyway and she won't kill me." he pointed toward the door. "Now you can just leave and go to whatever floozy is waiting for you back at your pad."

Droog sighed, turning back to his boss. "I'm going to go," he told him. "But if you decide to change your mind you have my number." he headed for the door. "If not; at least decide what you're going to do with her."

Before Slick could come up with a retort, his comrade had stepped out into the hallway and closed the apartment door firmly behind him.

Once he was gone Slick sighed and turned his attention back toward the bedroom. Maybe he should have a talk with Snowman about the incident. after all? Droog might have been right about him jumping to conclusions, not that he'd ever admit it to him, of course. He told himself he was only going to do this to clear some things up. With that in mind he walked back into the bedroom to speak with her about it.

"All right, wench," he said as a greeting as he trooped back into the bedroom. "I think it's time we had another talk."

Snowman looked up at him with without any emotion. She seemed to know why he'd come back into the room to speak with her and the look in her eyes hinted that she wasn't happy about it. The woman sat up and stared him in the face as if daring him to begin the discussion.

"Did you lie to me?" he demanded.

"About what?" she asked.

"About what Lord English did to you."

She looked away. "I told you what happened, Slick," she told him. "What else is there to say about it?" she rubbed her arm, wincing when her hand touched a sore spot on her carapace. "I would rather not talk about this again, especially so soon."

"Well, I don't care what you want," he responded, irritated. "I think you lied to me and I want you to tell me the truth instead of dancing around it like you've been doing."

"Slick, I didn't lie to you," she replied, her voice strained. "I told you exactly what happened."

"I don't think you did." he responded, sounding angry. "I think you purposely left things out."

"Is this about the fact you think I was molested?" she asked him. When he nodded she said. "Slick, I wanted to correct you about that before but you didn't let me."

"You said you-"

"I don't," she cut him off. "I said he beat me up which is what he did. He tried flirting with me and failed and got angry when I shot down his juvenile attempts at it."

Slick glared at her.

The former queen of Derse was starting to get annoyed and began to glare back. "Are you blaming me that you made a mistake when I told you what happened? Slick, don't be such a child! I'm really not feeling up to arguing about this."

"Well I think we should," he said, folding his arms. "and I don't care if you don't want to."

"I didn't lie to you," she pointed out with exaggerated patience. "You made a mistake."

But Slick was being stubborn and wasn't willing to admit that yet. "That's not what you said," he insisted.

"It _was_ what I said," she replied, testily. "Slick, I did not say he sexually assaulted me, aside from touching my face. You didn't listen because you never do."

"I did so listen!" he snapped, beginning to lose his temper. "But you chose to be mysterious with your explanation and kept avoiding it! What was I supposed to think when you're acting so stupidly?"

"I'm not the one being stupid here," she retorted, her hands clenching into fists. "You jumped to a conclusion and are blaming me for it. I told you already what happened. I don't want to talk about it again, especially right now."

He steeped toward the bed. "I don't care what you want, Snowman!" he snapped. "I want the truth!"

"I _told_ you the truth!" she shouted, getting tired of telling him the same thing over and over. "He beat me up! He made a move on me and when I shot him down he beat the living snot out of me! How many times do I have to repeat myself until it sinks into your alcohol addled brain?!"

He was ready to slap her now, becoming impatient with her, but she seemed to predict his action and grabbed his arm and yanked him over, shoving his face into the mattress wile at the same time jabbing her knee into his spine. She'd done it without thinking, her brain flashing back to when Lord English had assaulted her. She hadn't seen Slick attempting to harm her again, she'd seen the cherub.

Slick yelled into the mattress, squirming in her grip. She was strong when she was relaxed but the events that brought her to the mobster's apartment only intensified this, making him unable to do more than kick his legs harmlessly at air.

"Snowman!" he screamed into the comforter as he squirmed in her grip, attempting to break free. She was suffocating him! "Get off of me!"

But she didn't even seem to hear him, her mind being miles away at the moment. He flailed his free arm around until he managed to jab his fingers into the female Felt member's stomach. She gasped and loosened her grip long enough for him to break free from her hold and roll over, grabbing onto her and pinning her on her back. She yelled at him when he did and fought like crazy to get him to let her go. It was all he could do to keep his hold onto her until she'd worn herself out and then lay there exhausted.

Now he glared down at her, panting. "What do you think you're doing?!" he shouted at her. "What was that for!?"

She kicked at him, trying to make him let her go as she sudden;y gained a surge of new energy. Slick held onto her, even though she didn't stop freaking out this time or seem to grow weary. Eventually he got tired of her screaming and fighting and slapped her across the face.

Her white eyes suddenly lost their glassy look and she stared at him as if seeing him for the first time. "Slick..."

"Yeah, it's me." What kind of stupid statement was that and why did she have that idiotic look on her face?

The look left her face and she was suddenly angry. "Get off me before I make you less of a man!"

"That sounds more like you." he muttered, releasing her and standing back up. No sense going through another round of the psycho woman. "What is your freaking' problem anyway?"

She sat up, her hand over the side of her face where he'd stuck her. "That's not the way to get me to tell you anything," she said irritated and somewhat mortified he'd seen her lose her cool, she'd been doing her best to keep control of her emotions. "Now get away from me before I follow through with my threat."

"You can't threaten me in my own house!" he exploded.

"I just did."

He bit back a smart remark. Now was not the time to argue with her about that anyway. It wouldn't even get him anywhere and she might go crazy at him again. Instead he stepped back and let his mind process what she'd said and how she'd reacted. She had been right, he realized. She hadn't said she'd been raped, he'd just jumped to conclusions about it.

But why? What was the point of that anyway? Did that mean he actually cared about what happened to her? Nah, couldn't be. That didn't make sense anyway. Like he'd suddenly be falling in love with her, yeah right. What a stupid idea.

Okay, that was obvious. So why then?

_Duh, I don't want anyone doing it to her but me. How many times do I have to repeat myself anyway? _He shook his head. Why was he talking to himself anyway? This was moronic.

"Slick." Snowman was saying something again. He looked back at her, noticing her frowning. "As I said he didn't molest me but he might as well have," she sat up and rubbed her arms as if she were cold. "What he did has shattered my confidence in my own abilities."

He sneered. "You're the universe," he quickly pointed out. "How could he destroy the massive ego of an all powerful and immortal being such as yourself?"

"Slick, I'm serious." she looked angry at him for taking her lightly. "I have all of this power and it was useless around him. I couldn't even teleport myself out of there until he'd left the room! It was like his presence canceled it out..."

Spades made no comment. He'd canceled her out? How was that even possible?

A/N

_Hehehehehehe there's more to the story than it seems but what could it be and how could he have prevented her from using her powers? Hmmm..._


	7. Chapter 7

7

"That doesn't make sense." he told her frowning at her words. "Your whole story makes no sense. I think you're making it up as you go along."

"So you think I went and beat myself up then?" she snapped, her white eyes flashing. "And then drug myself to your apartment just to make up stories? Tell me, Slick, why would I do that? What would that accomplish, especially since you hate my guts?"

"Why are you asking me?" he shot back. "How should I know what goes on in that messed up brain of yours? Maybe you have a score to settle with that guy but you don't want to get your hands dirty so you think if you come here with some sob story I'll go and avenge you myself."

"I wouldn't _need_ you avenging me," she was quick to point out. "I could easily take care of him myself once I've recovered."

He laughed. "That is if you had recovered," he reminded her. "You didn't look all that wonderful when you got here, in fact you looked like you would keel over any minute. If it wasn't for me you'd be dead and we'd all be worse off, having to either deal with your idiot boss or we'd all be dead."

"You wouldn't let that happen," she said quietly. "You want to reserve that right for yourself."

"Yeah, if I completely lost my mind."

For some reason that make her smirk. This bothered Slick how her moods shifted from psychotic to smug in minutes. It seemed that Lord English might have knocked her brain out of place while he was using her for a punching bag.

"Admit it, Slick, if I weren't the universe you'd have killed me a long time ago."

"I don't think it matters what I'd want to do or not do," he stated rather impatiently. "It can't happen anyway and I don't have a death wish nor am I suicidal."

Yes, that was true. He wouldn't risk that anyway.

Slick seemed to realize then that the conversation was over. He turned away, shooting a comment back at her that didn't really make much sense, and walked out of the room.

0000

Snowman was relieved Spades Slick left left the bedroom. She wasn't sure she would have been able to deal with him anymore, at least right now. The female carapace looked toward the window, almost as if she expected to see someone looking in at her.

Of course there wasn't anyone and it helped her feel better but not for long.

Mostly because she felt like an idiot. Her actions just then had been that of a weak willed woman. She was surely none of that. She was strong willed and powerful. So why was she being so delicate?

It was so unlike her and she was sickened by her own reaction. It was completely unacceptable for someone like her, as well as horribly out of character. She flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling, mentally beating herself up about it and trying to figure out what she was going to do now.

And as she did so she began to question her own reasons for coming to Slick after what had happened to her. What had been going through her mind when she'd teleported to his apartment? What was the reason? It wasn't for comfort, that was for sure, he wasn't the type of person to do such things. No, not really, but at least he hadn't gloated about it and rubbed it in as she'd expected him to.

His reaction had been both unpredictable and surprising. Had his personality changed? No, matured slightly maybe but not changed.

_Was that bad or good? _she couldn't help asking herself. In the past he probably would have gone after Lord English right after she'd first told him without a second thought, it seemed now he'd at least learned some self control.

That was a good thing, right?

_Or did you want him to do such a stupid thing and get his little rear kicked to kingdom come?_ a small voice in her head asked. _You know if you'd been in better health you'd probably sit back and cackle about the very idea. It would be entertaining to you and if he died you could just rewind time and keep it from happening, or just make it happen over and over and over until you got bored. _

Maybe she would have but right now the thought wasn't even the least bit funny.

Snowman rolled on her side, facing away room the window and just let her mind run over these things. Maybe then it would start making some sense.

000

Spades Slick stepped out of his bedroom, more confused about Snowman's story than before. Now she was saying she couldn't have escaped Lord English if she tried, but was she telling him the truth or making up another lie?

_But she didn't lie before,_ he had to remind himself forcefully. He'd jumped to conclusions and took what she'd said out of context. _You only thought she had because you wanted it to be a bigger deal than it really was._

_She'd acted strangely, _he told himself , trying to soften the blow to his own ego. By her words and definitely how she'd acted with her crazy body language. The mobster tried not to think too much about her reaction, he didn't want to have any pity on her, but it was extremely hard.

_This is stupid! If the roles were reversed she wouldn't pity me! _he thought with disgust, gritting his teeth in frustration. _She'd sit there and laugh at me and kick me in the face and mock my manhood! _

He turned his head to glare at the closed door of his bedroom. That witch! She must really think he was a gullible chump. She could have even fazed herself out of his room right then and went back to tell Lord English how much of a fool he was. They'd have a good laugh about it.

Then he asked himself why he was being such a paranoid idiot all of a sudden, especially after what had just happened between the two. There was no way she could be doing that, even if it usually was in character for her to do something to make him look dumb. This time he knew it was much different.

But of course realizing that only made him feel angry. She was not trying to make him out to be a fool and that just made him feel even more annoyed with her. The least she could do was insult him for something but no, she was in too delicate a mood at the moment to even do that.

"Stupid woman!" he shouted angrily. "Why do you have to mess with my emotions?!"

Just then the phone rang and he jerked it off the ringer with an annoyed snap. "What?!" he snapped into the receiver.

"So how did your conversation go?" Diamond's Droog's voice spoke up on the phone.

Spades, gritted his teeth in anger. He should have known Droog was going to call up and bother him about it. "None of your business!"

"Let's not get into a shouting match, Slick," he said flatly. "That's not why I called you."

"Then why-"

"Did she tell you the truth?" he cut him off before he could go into an insane tirade. "That is the real reason I called, in case you're wondering."

"Yes, she did!" he shouted. "Are you happy now?!"

"No."

"No?!"

"I'm not happy," Droog told him, using a tone that made him sound like a parent scolding a child.

"Why not?"

"I don't think you got anything out of it." his voice sounded somewhat condescending. "She's got a problem she doesn't want to talk about."

"Then why don't you help her out?" the other carapace asked in a mocking tone.

"Because she came to you," he said slowly and clearly. "This is your responsibility, not mine."

"I don't want to help her! I hate her!"

"Yes, I know." Droog sighed. "But let me ask you something?"

"What now?"

"Now that you know the truth what are you going to do?"

Spades started to respond then yanked on his own leash and said nothing. That was a good question and he had no real answer for it. What was he going to do, now that he knew the full story and wasn't making things up to fill in the pieces? Right now he had no actions planned.

Yet.

"Well?" Droog spoke up after a moment. "are you even there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," he grunted. "I was just thinking."

'That's a first."

"Screw you, Droog!" he snapped. "I don't know what I'm going to do right now! I have to think about it and I don't need your sarcasm!"

"Well you should think of something and soon," Droog responded. "I'm sure Lord English is going to want to take her back in the near future and you'll have a choice to make about that."

"I dare him to come here," he snapped, annoyed. Why was Diamonds Droog trying to make him even more paranoid anyway?! "I don't care what he does. If he appears in my house he'll meet the business end of my knife!"

"You might change your mind about that if he actually does answer your dare."

"Don't count on it," he said stubbornly.

"You never know."

Slick hung up before the conversation continued. He knew if he'd said anymore Droog would have baited him into another argument. He didn't feel like shouting at his comrade right now, especially since he was feeling somewhat worn out from the days issues and he still didn't know what to do about Snowman.

What was there to do anyway? He couldn't kill her. He should probably just send her back to where she came from but that idea wasn't acceptable either. He didn't even know why he was suddenly so confused about the whole thing. It didn't make a lick of sense. It was stupid and he was being stupid allowing it to stay in his mind for so long. Why was he even wasting his time?

_Maybe you care? _the voice in his head taunted him. _Maybe that spade is becoming a heart_.

"SHUT UP!"

_You got a problem with blind fact? Just admit it. _

_"_There's nothing to admit!" he roared, grabbing the sides of his head as if his brain was going to explode and shatter his carapace."I hate her!"

_I believe you, but do you believe yourself? _

"You better and yes I do." he got up from the sofa and started to pace. He needed to think and the taunting voice in his mind wasn't making it any easier.

So he grabbed his coat and stormed out of the apartment, locking the door behind himself as if that would make any difference if someone like Lord English decided to break in. If the nasty green cherub wanted Snowman back he would just appear and disappear without even going through the door.

Hopefully when Spades Slick returned from his walk Snowman would be right where he'd left her.

_A/N_  
_I have no idea how to continue this so some suggestions would be nice. ^^; Thanks in advance._


	8. Chapter 8

8

Snowman had fallen asleep moments before Spades Slick had charged out of his apartment to go on his temper energized walk around the city. She slept soundly, having no dreams for the most part and any visions she might have were quickly forgotten. It felt like a peaceful sleep with no interruptions.

Or it would have been that way.

She was woken from her slumber by a loud thump coming from the living area of the apartment. She sat up with a start, her white eyes going back to the bedroom door.

What was that? she wondered, feeling nervous. Was it Slick?

No, he wouldn't have made that kind of noise if he were the one coming home. It had to be someone else. But who? An enemy?

Slowly and cautiously she slipped out of Slick's bed and slowly made her way to the door, opening it ever so slightly to peek into the other room without being noticed.

The apartment was dark because Spades had shut off the lights when he'd gone out, so she couldn't see much. He'd also pulled down the shades so no light from the street or the pink moon shone into the building either. The room seemed to be pitch black or the closest it could get to that color anyway.

She listened for a moment, waiting to hear the sound again but this time only silence reached her ears. Maybe she'd just been hearing things so she closed the door and turned to go back to the bed, considering going back to sleep. But just as her fanny compressed the mattress the thumping picked up again and she jumped letting out a curse word.

THUMP!

She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands to keep herself from making any further sounds.

THUMP!

A threat, it had to be there was no other option. A voice in her head stated this and she didn't question it. Something was in the other room and it sure as heck wasn't friendly.

Well whoever it was, if they were there for her she wasn't going to go down without a fight. It was going to regret ever entering this apartment. Snowman looked around the room a moment before noticing the knife laying on Spade Slick's bedside table. Of course, Slick couldn't even go to bed without having a blade in close range,k she thought to herself as she reached out and grabbed it off the table. Whoever it was they were not going to take her out without a fight!

Gripping the knife in her hand she tiptoed to the door and slowly opened the door, cautiously peeking out into the living area of the apartment once more.

Whoever was out there was about to get themselves gutted.

Just as she placed her eye against the small crack in the door she'd made something bumped into the door which made her gasp and fall backwards.

"ARGH!" Whoever had hit the door yelled out in fear at the sound of her hitting the floor.

Snowman sat up, her eyes widening. That scream sounded familiar but it didn't belong to anyone in the Felt. Whoever it was they were one of the people from Derse and they were either terrified or bonkers.

The door suddenly opened and something that looked like a staff swung at her. She gasped and dived out of the way of the blow.

"You can't escape me, you lime green pickle!" a familiar voice shouted. "No one breaks into Spades Slick's apartment and gets away with it! Feel the wrath of my bull cane!"

Now she knew exactly who it was. Rolling on her back she put out her hands and when the cane came swinging at her again she raised her hands and grabbed the cane firmly, yanking it out of other assailant's hands. Then she was in the middle of a struggle with whoever it was when they gasped and grabbed it back, though she didn't let go of it.

Snowman pulled hard on the cane, yanking the other person off their feet and onto the floor. She rolled on top of them, pinning them down with the cane.

"Snowman?!"

She stared down at the other person, recognizing them as Clubs Deuce, one of Spades Slicks associates.

"You!" she shouted, not releasing the cane. What in the world was he doing sneaking around Slick's apartment? "What are you doing here?"

The small Dersite who used to be the Courtroom Droll back on the Kingdom of Derse before they'd all be exiled stared at the female carapace with large white eyes. He seemed surprised to see her there of all places. "Snowman?" he repeated himself.

She frowned. "It's me," she said blandly. "Now tell me what you're doing here." she pressed down on the cane to give him an incentive.

Club's eyes popped out. "I was looking for Slick!" he exclaimed, fighting against her to keep the cane away from his neck.

Her next question came out as an icy growl. "Why?"

"I brought something over for him."

"And that would be..?"

"Could you let go of my cane so I can show it to you?" he asked, squirming under her. "I can't exactly get it if I'm stuck using both of my hands to hold onto this."

"How do I know you won't try something?" she demanded. From experience she knew what that kid did when people weren't looking. She didn't want to get hit by his cane again any time soon. One thrashing was enough for the millennium anyway.

"I won't," he meekly promised her.

Very slowly and cautiously she let go of the cane and moved back. Clubs sat up once she was no longer close enough to choke him and rubbed his head. He stared at her, an obvious question in his eyes. She knew what he was thinking but wasn't feeling up to explaining herself a third time. He wouldn't react rationally anyway, which was to be expected seeing as he wasn't as mature at Droog and Slick were.

"Well?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"What did you want to bring to him?" she asked, feeling exasperated.

"Oh! Uh..." he reached into his coat and pulled out what looked like a time bomb.

Snowman frowned at it, knowing right away what he would be using it for. When he noticed the look on her face he quickly out the bomb away. "Ehhh.."

"What is that for?" she asked, pretending she didn't know its purpose. "You planning a little demolishing exertion in the near future?"

"Uh... I guess you could say that..." and he quickly changed the subject. "So umm... where's Slick and why are you in his bedroom?"

"Slick went for a walk," she informed him in a nasty voice. "and it's none of your business why I'm in his bedroom or anything else for that matter."

The small carapace was about to comment but then noticed all the wounds on her body. Her coat didn't hide all of them so they were easy to spot. He stared at her for a long moment, his mouth hanging wide open as the image sunk into his brain.

She glared at him seemingly reading his mind.

"What?" he yelped.

"Stop staring at me."

"Eh... sorry.. I think I'll just leave since Slick's not here and I'm sure he wouldn't want me to interrupt whatever it is you and him were doing here and-" he started for the door but she grabbed his arm and yanked him back before he even left the room. "Yipe!"

"You're not going anywhere," she hissed. "You're going to stay here until he comes back and we decide what to do about this." the last thing she needed was for big mouthed Clubs to know where she was and blab it all over town. She didn't want anyone, especially the Felt, to know she was there. Droog, she knew would keep a secret, Slick wouldn't tell for personal reasons, Clubs on the other hand...

No way was she going to trust him without Slick being there to make sure he didn't open his mouth if he knew what was best for him.

Clubs didn't seem to happy about the arrangement. She could easily tell he didn't want to stick around, and she didn't really blame him for feeling that way. Their relationship hadn't really been that great on Derse, though she honestly hadn't abused him and mostly left him to do whatever he wanted. "Umm.. do you know when he'll be back?" he asked slowly, cautiously.

"No," she responded. "I don't know when he'll be back, it could be a few minutes it could be a few hours." she shrugged. "He'll come when he comes, you'll just have to be patient."

He didn't want to be patient! He wanted to leave because being around her was making him a little nervous. Not that he couldn't take care of himself if she tried anything but you never know. Aside from that hanging around would make him even more curious about her cuts and bruises and he would start asking and she would probably flip out at him and act like a maniac.

"And stop staring at me like that!" she shot at him. "I don't appreciate it!" He made another move toward the door only to be yanked back again by Snowman. "Don't you dare!"

"Make up your mind then!" he shouted. "You don't want me staring but you don't want me leaving! I can't hep staring because you don't want me to know what happened."

She groaned and got up off the floor. "I'll tell you if you shut up."

"Okay, okay!"

"Good," she finally let go of his arm.

"Are you going to tell me why you look like you and Sick-"

"Don't even go there," she growled at him. "And get your mind out of the gutter!"

He quickly shut up.

"That's better." then she repeated the story again, omitting parts from it because she didn't want to tell this guy all the details.

Clubs didn't have much of a comment when she finished, he seemed to just be trying to let what she said sink into his mind. His silence of course started to get on her nerves. Why was he just staring at her like that? Why didn't he say something? Did he think it had been easy for her to explain this to him? It wasn't like she had to tell him that, she'd only done it so he would stop being annoying.

"What?" he asked, noticing the look on her face. "I didn't say anything!"

"Best you didn't." she folded her arms and looked away. What was she going to do now? She didn't know but she was already regretting telling Clubs what happened. He would probably tell Hearts Boxcars about it or one of her other many enemies. They would jump at the chance to get at her while she was down. Great, just what she didn't need. "If you tell anyone what I just told you your hat won't be the only thing getting smashed in the near future."

"My hat?" he took it off his head and hugged it protectively.

"Yeah, you're hat." she grabbed it from him and crushed it in her hand, making him squeak. "This is what will happen to you if you say anything to anyone."

"I won't say anything!" he said, staring at his crushed hat.

"Good," she dropped it on the floor then got up as he stared forlornly down at the crushed article of clothing. "Glad we came to an agreement."

"Yeah..." he picked up his hat mournfully. His poor poor hat.

She pulled herself onto the bed and looked down at him. He wasn't going anywhere and wouldn't be saying anything either. Now all she had to do was wait for Slick to come home so they could decide what to do about him.

* * *

Slick returned half and hour after Snowman had told Clubs he had to wait. As he stepped into the apartment it became very clear he was in no better a mood than he'd been when he'd left it. If Snowman wasn't mistaken he looked worse. But before she could make any remark about it Clubs was up from the sofa and charging over to him like a child greeting their father after a hard work day.

"Slick!" Clubs Deuce exclaimed, getting up from the floor and making a beeline for him."You're finally back!"

Slick's expression said he hadn't been expecting company, especially the smaller Dersite's, and that he wasn't welcome either way. "What are you doing here?" he demanded. "and who let you in?" he glared at Snowman as he asked this as if she were responsible.

"I let myself in," he explained. "I came by to drop off that thing you wanted."

"You let yourself in?!" he demanded. "How did you do that? I locked the door!"

"I picked the lock," Clubs responded as if it should be obvious.

Spades Slick looked ready to blow up at the smaller carapace but the fact that Snowman was standing there, watching might have given him pause. Instead he said through gritted teeth. "You shouldn't have done that, you should have called me."

"I didn't even think about it..."

"Of course not! You never do!" he glared at Snowman again and his eyes seemed to be sending a clear message to her, one she didn't exactly appreciate.

He was still blaming her. But what could she have done? Her powers didn't even work now and moving too much still hurt. She was even more sore from her little conflicts with Slick and Clubs. If he blew up at her now she probably would do something regretful, not that anyone could really blame her.

Clubs looked from one to the other as if he too were deciding what to say. He could feel tension rising. "Uh... I think I'll be going now." he started for the door but Slick grabbed his arm to stop him. "Oh no you don't! You're staying right here!"

"But why?" he whined. "I didn't do anything!"

"You broken into my apartment," his college snapped at him. "I wouldn't call that nothing!"

"Well I'm sorry, I told you why I did it."

"And now you have to pay for it."

"what are you going to do to me?"

"Depends," he said. "What have you learned since you got here?"

"About what?"

He pointed at Snowman. "Her."

"What..." Club's eyes wandered over to the woman who was leaning against the door frame. "Oh um... just a few things like she's here because Lord English beat her up and-"

"That's enough!"

"Yikes!" he ducked his head as if expecting his boss to swing at him.

"Why are you telling him these things?!" the angry mobster demanded of Snowman. "He's going to just go out and open his big mouth and tell everyone where you are and then we'll both be in the can because nearly every gang in this city wants a piece of you."

The female Dersite sighed tiredly. She didn't want to talk about this anymore, it was starting to give her a headache. "He won't say anything if he knows what's good for him."

Slick gave her a suspicious look as if he didn't believe her. "And how do you know he won't?!"

"Oh, I know," she assured him, slowly sliding down the frame until she was sitting. "Trust me."

But he wasn't going to trust her. He never had so he couldn't take her word for it, no matter what, until he realized she had more to lose than he did if that information came out. She would make sure the little guy didn't tell and if he did he was certain he'd regret it.

"Fine," he grunted. "Whatever you say."

"Can I go now?" Clubs wanted to know since it seemed the two had come to an agreement.

"No!"

"Aw..."


	9. Chapter 9

9

So now Clubs was in on it and he was unlikely to forget it any time soon, Slick realized with growing annoyance. He really wished Snowman hadn't said anything about it to the little carapce. Didn't she know how dangerous that was?! Spades Slick wasn't as confident as Snowman that the smaller mobster would keep his promise. Club's had a big mouth and wasn't really known for his secret keeping abilities.

Snowman should know that as well but her ignorance about it made him wonder if she'd forgotten or simply didn't want to think too much about that little fact. Or the woman was confident that her threat would keep him from actually saying anything at all.

Who knew? All he considered was it was extremely irritating and he wasn't the least bit happy about it.

Stupid woman.

As for Clubs, what were they going to do now with him sitting around there? The mobster could just tell him to leave but Slick was paranoid about Hearts finding out. Clubs would surely tell the big burely bully everything, threats or no threats.

Hearts Boxcars seemed to have this unhealthy obsession with people kissing and that included his boss and Snowman, though he knew they both hated each other's guts.

Spades could already picture that big lug calling him up and asking "Have ya kissed er yet?!"

He shuddered.

Snowman gave him a look when she noticed this. She rose a brow at him and he could tell she was trying to figure out what he was thinking. Well, he wasn't going to tell her what was on his mind, he didn't care what kind of faces she made at him.

Back to the problem, he scolded himself.

Clubs. What to do with him? Maybe Slick should just lock the annoying little punk in his war chest until Snowman finally got her rear in gear and healed herself up enough to go back home or whatever it is she did to make herself look normal.

No way, that was a bad idea. Lord English would just bash her around again. That wasn't acceptable!

Since when do you care?

There it was again, that stupid voice that kept casting doubt on his motives.

Ugh, I don't want to go over this again, you stupid voice! You know why I care and I'm tired of arguing with you about it. The mobster was beginning to wish he could stab that obnoxious voice in his head which seemed intent on making him admit that he was having red feelings for her which wasn't true. His thoughts and emotions toward Snowman were as black as midnight. Stupid voice. Go away, you're as bad as that obnoxious troll kid who was obsessed with his stupid pairing quadrants.

Snowman was still giving him that look so he gave her one back along with his middle finger. She glared at him but he ignored her and turned his focus Clubs. Yes, putting him in the war chest sounded like a great idea.

He grabbed the little guy and very discretely led him into the bedroom. Well he would have anyway if the little fellow hadn't started protesting. This only annoyed Spades who stuffed the struggling little carapace into the chest before Snowman could interfere or ask any questions. If she made an inquiry he'd just tell her the kid escaped through the window with his Mary Poppins umbrella or something.

"Now you just stay in there until this mess it taken care of," he growled at the chest which bounced around as Clubs tried to fight his way out. "I don't need you running your mouth about this, I don't care what Snowman said. She might be confident you won't but I don't think the same."

"Slick!" came the little dersite's muffled voice. "Let me out of here! I promise I won't say a word"

But Slick ignored the other dersite and turned on his heel and went back into the other room. The discussion was over.

Snowman looked up at him when Slick returned and instantly noticed Clubs wasn't missing. "What did you do with him?" she asked. using that tone she used to give him back on Derse when she knew he was being a bad boy.

"Nothing," he snapped, defensively. "He jumped out the window."

The look she gave him made it clear she did not believe him but she didn't press it. Instead she looked away and sighed, leaning tiredly against the sofa where she'd chosen to rest. For some reason this caused a flicker of worry to appear in his chest which he immediately extinguished. No way was he going to start worrying about her, nuh uh.

"And you're not even going to chase after him?" she finally asked.

"I don't need to," he informed her. "I know where he lives."

Of course. She sighed again, though this time she winced. Slick watched her as he sat down, frowning in an annoyed fashion. She had been moving around a lot which made him wonder if she was really as hurt as she claimed.

Don't be stupid. Of course she is. You drug her in here and she bled all over the floor, don't start thinking she is faking being in pain to keep you off guard now.

Shut up! I know that! But she's got universal time and space powers, what make you think she can't heal herself quickly?

Yeah, why wasn't she healed up yet if that were true.

"How are you feeling?" he asked more to satisfy his curiosity over actually caring.

She glanced at him, her white eyes betraying a slight sense of surprise. Was he really asking her that? they seemed to be saying. "Why?" she asked him cautiously.

That irritated him. "Why? Why not?" he demanded. "You're staying here, why shouldn't I ask you how you're doing?"

"It doesn't seem like something you would really want to know about," she relied. "or care."

"Okay so I honestly don't care," he admitted with a shrug. "I still have a right to ask how you're feeling."

She sighed, knowing she should have expected this. "I am doing a bit better," she told him slowly. "But I am not healed."

"What does that even mean?" He wasn't able to comprehend that. How could she feel better but not be healed.

But she wasn't in the mood to explain anything to him. "I'm tired." she closed her eyes as if she were going to fall asleep. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

"I want to know!" he exclaimed, getting out of his chair. He stood over her, his hands on his hips. "Listen, witch, you're the universe. You have godlike powers. There's no way your freakin' carapace could be damaged for a long time! Its not logical, seeing as all you have to do is speed up time for yourself."

She looked up at him. "It's not that simple, Spades" she informed him in a condescending tone. "Yes, my body can heal up quicker than yours but it still takes some time and one day is not enough."

"I don't believe you," he folded his arms, being stubborn.

"I really don't care," she shot back. "but yelling at me like that is not going to make anything go any faster."

"Well you-" he cut himself off. What the heck was he doing now? This was getting him nowhere and making him look like a complete fool. "Let me ask you a question."

She looked at him as if saying "Go ahead" but her eyes were cold and were warning him to watch what he said. Even with that in mind he plowed on ahead with a stupid question which he knew was stupid even as he spoke. "What do you intend to do once you don't have to sponge off me anymore?"

"Excuse me?" now she was offended.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" he asked. "You came to me because Lord English beat you up. I am guessing your reason was because you want me to protect you or something which is extremely stupid and far reaching. What makes you think I would?"

Snowman didn't respond to his probing. At first she'd only come to his apartment because he was the first person who had come to mind but now she wasn't sure that was a full reason, though she didn't know yet what that was either. Slick was a jerk, no worse than a jerk, and irritating and rude and hateful and he despised everything about her, yet...

Yet he had actually took her in and allowed her to stay. Maybe it was just because he knew what would happen if he hadn't or maybe it was something else entirely. She wasn't sure and she had noticed quiet a few times he seemed a bit uncertain, as if he was questioning himself. It might have something to do with her or it might not. There was no way of telling...

_Sorry guys. I'm afraid I'm going to have to discontinue this for awhile. I lack ideas and any real motivation. _


End file.
